Notes: Yeah, we thinks it's about time that Mags got to actually be AROUND for his family. We've said a few times that this universe is a place for the best possible versions of our characters, and… that also really includes Erik, believe it or not. I mean, we're even giving Daken and freakin' Laura a chance to be better, so why not the X-Men's best frenemy? We got plans for Erik, man.

Chapter 15 - We Are Gathered Here At A Moment's Notice

With everyone home, safe and sound at last, and with SHIELD and a few others batting cleanup on the last few stubborn pockets of Kree, it was apparent Nate and Hope had done what they set out to do — and they had other places to be.

Not that the rest of their family was happy about it. Especially since Annie had honestly been enjoying getting to know this part of Scott's family outside of a passing introduction at their wedding. It was clear to anyone watching her with them that she had firmly adopted them into the fold, and she was sure to tell them as much.

"You'll be coming by again soon, won't you?" she asked, though it wasn't so much a request as it was a declaration of how things were going to be, and there was no way the two time travelers could miss that fact.

Nate opened his mouth to respond, but Hope beat him to the punch. "I'm sure we will," she said quickly, earning a dry look from Nate.

Oh, don't give me that look, she said. You're absolutely wrapped around your step-siblings' fingers, and it's the best thing I've seen in months.

Oh, so we're coming back for your entertainment?

Yes, obviously, she replied in a tone that said he really should have seen it coming. Keep up.

Nate couldn't help but smirk at that before he made sure to return the warm hug that Annie gave him — shortly before he was tackled by both of the twins, one on either leg.

"No go, Nate!" Chance said, trying to climb up him until Nate really had no choice but to reach down and pick him up. And once he had Chance, there was no other option but to pick up Charlie, too, until he had a twin in each arm giving him baby kisses — all while Hope gave him a look that she didn't even have to project her thoughts to get across.

"We'll be back," Nate said.

Really soon, Hope added, projecting it to the twins and getting them to giggle like they always did when she'd get in their heads — which they still thought was the coolest thing in the world.

"Pwomise?" Charlie asked, wide-eyed.

"Yeah," Nate said, nodding seriously as he met her gaze. "You'll see us around plenty."

You're such a softie, Hope projected to him, which earned her another dry look.

It took a bit more cajoling to get the twins to let go again, but when they finally did, Hope suggested to them that they go play with Logan and K, giving Nate the chance to say a quick goodbye to his dad — the two Summers men sharing a quick but warm embrace with very few words spoken outside of a promise that Nate would be back.

"Wouldn't want to disappoint the twins," Nate said with a smirk before he and Hope waved and simply stepped into the usual wash of blue, off to the next crisis in another dimension somewhere.

It was another few days before the last of the Kree had cleared out — and before they figured it was safe to go back to the mansion, at any rate. Even so, Kate was surprised when they arrived on the grounds to find that it looked… shockingly familiar.

None of the rubble had been cleared, so it still looked exactly as it had when the Kree levelled it, and she could have sworn it was the exact same scene from the sim Logan had used ages ago when she asked him to start training her, right down to the brick wall lying in the middle of the yard.

"Watch your step, Chicken Hawk," Logan teased as he walked past her.

"That's not my name," she replied with a glare.

"Figure I better work on somethin'," he told her. "Seeing as everyone is solidly in the camp of keeping Clint as Hawkeye now."

"I don't mind sharing and you know it," Kate pointed out, shaking her head. "Especially because it means he's got his shooting arm all in one piece."

"You? Sharing?" Logan said with a raised eyebrow. "If you say so."

Kate rolled her eyes, half-hanging onto Kurt's arm as they picked their way through the rubble of what had been their home, and Kurt gave her a small and encouraging hug and a quick kiss. "Don't worry; we'll rebuild before the students return from their summer holidays," he promised. "Think of it this way — this time, we can expand our room to accomodate a nursery."

She had to smile at that and nodded. "Better make sure that's on the blueprints," she muttered.

"I'm quite sure that with Scott running things, and with Noh in the glow of his newfound fatherhood… nurseries will be well taken care of," he laughed, though they weren't the only ones thinking of the kids' accommodations.

"We probably shouldn't just camp out with the little ones," K said mostly to Logan.

He nodded in agreement and took Elin from her for a moment. "Your place or mine?" he asked with a little smirk.

"Mine, for sure," she said. "The only ones that know about mine are the ones Kurt has teleported there. And there's room if anyone wants to hide." She turned to look at Kate. "You know. Like … if anyone wants to get some peace and quiet. And coffee."

"Well I was gonna say no, but then you threw coffee out there," Kate teased. She let out a breath and rested a hand on her stomach. "And seeing as I'm not exactly helpful for the picking up thing right now…" she added, trailing off with a sheepish grin.

"Jubilee," K called out. "You should probably come where there is peace and food too."

Jubilee turned to face her and made a bit of a face at being once again relegated to the group not doing things. "Only if I can bring music too," she said at last.

"Naturally," K replied. "And Kurt can bring the guys home at night, right, sweet Elf?"

Kurt nodded with a little grin. "Do try not to burn the place down while we're gone. You three are trouble alone."

"My house, no worries," K said with a little wave.

"Then shall we go?" Kurt offered. "The three of you can get settled in while we start clearing some of this…" He swept one hand out to indicate the rubble. When everyone seemed to be in agreement, Kurt grinned and, in a quick teleport, he and the bamfs had taken all three couples to the cabin.

"What is this place?" Noh asked curiously as the little bamf that had taken him patted his hair affectionately.

"My house," K said with a little smirk. "Hidden away in the woods, of course."

"Naturally," Noh laughed, his arm snaking around Jubilee's waist as the two of them took in the sights of the little cabin. "It suits you."

"Main floor is mine," K said. "But there are bedrooms upstairs for both of you." She was clearly addressing Noh, because Kate was already headed inside.

"I call the one on the left!" Kate called out with a little giggle.

"Oh that — that's not fair! Unfair advantage!" Jubilee called out as she ran after Kate, which just had Noh laughing as he watched her run off.

"Thank you for allowing us into your home," he told K. "Hopefully we won't be intruding long. I think we can rebuild quickly with all the help we are getting."

"You two are supposed to be family, right? It's your right to intrude," K said with a little shrug.

Noh beamed at that before he leaned over and gently kissed Elin's forehead. "Take care of my dear little sister while we're gone," he said with a teasing smirk.

"Take care of my sweetheart," she countered with a little growl on her way up to the cottage.

"You know I will," he replied with a laugh.

With that, Kurt put a hand on each other man's shoulder before they quickly teleported out and back to the mansion again, where already Magneto was making quick work of clearing away rubble. Several old X-Men had arrived to help, and Colossus was lifting beams out of the way as they went. Even Laura had come up back with some of the younger versions of the original X-Men, not to mention Gabby. A few Avengers who had arrived to help — Thor and Kamala — were doing some serious heavy lifting as well, even with the scattered bamfs supervising. Some of them were wearing little yellow hardhats and trying to help — though they seemed to be more apt to drop things on each other or someone's foot than to do any actual work until they saw Kurt had shown up.

Noh almost immediately zipped off to start joining in the heavy lifting, taking half a wall in both hands to help Kamala clear what used to be the teacher's wing, and the little bamfs were happily doing what they could, grabbing bits of rubble to teleport them away. Kurt and Logan, on the other hand, had only made it a few steps toward the rubble when someone put a hand on both their shoulders.

"Wait," Natasha said as she pulled on their shoulders to turn them both to face her. She had a strange kind of light in her eyes as she tipped her head at both of them. "I need to borrow you both before we do anything else."

"Something wrong?" Logan asked with a little frown.

"Oh no," she said, shaking her head. She glanced over her shoulder at where the others were working and then pulled them both a bit further away. "No — but I want to borrow you both before anything else can happen. I didn't want to wait."

Kurt and Logan shared a look for a moment as a slow smile spread across both of their faces. "Of course," Kurt said. "Whatever you need." Several little bamfs seemed to have taken it as a cue as they appeared over Kurt's shoulders with wide grins and giggles, ready for whatever trouble Natasha had in mind.

"Thank you," she said. She took a bit of a breath before she started to smile very softly. "I'll need a minister — and a witness. And you two will do nicely."

"Well it's about damn time," Logan muttered.

She shot him a bit of a look. "Don't make me find another witness," she warned, though the threat had absolutely nothing behind it, not when she was already starting to smile outright beyond her usual slight, sly upturned mouth.

"You need a witness or someone to give you away?" Logan had to tease.

She rolled her eyes at that. "I'll let you walk me down the aisle," she laughed quietly. "Or at least walk me across the top of the skyscraper." She looked toward Kurt. "The one in London. The green birds… trees… I thought it might be just what we needed for a bit of high-up privacy."

"It sounds lovely," Kurt agreed, unable to hide the wide grin.

"You're such a pushover, Tash," Logan muttered with a quiet grin on his face before he pulled her over to kiss her cheek.

She raised an eyebrow at him but didn't rise to the bait, even returning the kiss on his cheek before she nodded to herself. "Well then. All we need is Clint," she said, glancing across the rubble to where Clint was helping to search through some of the remains to try and salvage any personal effects that might have survived.

"I can handle that," Kurt said with a smirk before he simply teleported over to Clint with a smile that without context looked almost menacing. "Might I borrow you for a moment?"

Clint looked up from what he was doing and absently dusted his hands off on the knees of his jeans. "Sure thing," he said. "What do you need?"

"Oh, it's not what I need," Kurt said with a laugh before he put his hand on Clint's shoulder, and the bamfs did the same with Natasha and Logan. When Clint looked around again, Kurt simply took a few steps away and grinned at him. "You will stand right there."

"O-kay," Clint said, shaking his head with a barely contained smirk as he spotted one of the bamfs holding a cell phone and waving at him beyond Kurt's head. "This one of Katie's ways of messing with me while she's down and out of the game for a bit?"

"Kate has no idea what we're up to today," Kurt promised.

"So you're in the messing with me game on your own now. Guess that's what happens when you marry into the family," Clint laughed.

Kurt chuckled and shook his head. "You're partially right, Hawkeye. And the family keeps getting bigger." He tipped his chin up and looked pointedly past Clint.

Clint turned to follow his gaze and raised both eyebrows high before he let out a heartier laugh when he saw that Logan and Natasha were there too. Natasha was smirking at him something awful, but that wasn't anything new, and he had to shake his head at her. "Kidnapping, Nat? Really?"

"Apparently, I'm impatient," she said, the smirk widening. "And I had access to a teleporter, which really didn't help with my patience." She laid her hand on Logan's arm and waited for Clint to catch up as he started to recognize the way they were all positioned.

He broke into a wide grin. "You know, Tasha, most people ask before they get married."

"Are you going to say no?"

"No."

"Then shut up and stand there," she replied, the smirk breaking into an honest grin. "And let Nightcrawler tell you when to say 'I do'."

With that, Logan shook his head and gave her a little kiss on the cheek before he stepped off to the side and waited for the show to get rolling.

Because of the spur-of-the-moment nature of everything, Kurt ran through the basic vows, since neither of them had really prepared anything to say, though it was entertaining to watch the smile growing wider and wider on Natasha's face as she threw aside any semblance of pretending not to be exactly where she wanted to be. Clint, of course, still looked equal parts shocked and ecstatic as Natasha seized him by his still rubble-dusted tee shirt and planted a kiss on him as soon as Kurt had finished the quick and informal ceremony.

When the kiss broke, she turned back to Kurt with a wide smile. "Thank you," she said in a slightly more business-like tone. "Thank you for letting me borrow you both for a bit. We can go back to the mansion now."

"Congratulations, Tasha," Logan said before he pulled her into a bear hug. "Don't you think you should go somewhere together that isn't war zone cleanup?"

She laughed quietly. "I don't know if you noticed, but the invasion was worldwide," she said.

"I'm sure the little demons can find you somewhere quiet and hidden away. If you're nice they might even find somewhere with minimal bloodshed," Logan told her quietly.

A couple little bamfs giggled, giving away their hiding places in the trees, and they came half tumbling out of the leaves at the mention of possibly helping — and causing trouble. One of them straightened an imaginary tie under Clint's chin, and the other kissed Nat's cheek before teleporting the newlyweds away — without giving either of them one clue as to their destination.

The first day of site work at the mansion had been a long one, but when the guys returned to the cabin in the northwoods, Kurt and Logan were flat out grinning in spite of the thick layer of dirt and sweat on both of them when they walked through the door with Noh.

Logan made his way right over to K, and Kurt did the same to Kate, and neither of them paused before they pulled their wives close and kissed them a very warm hello.

"This is not bad at all," K said with a little grin — apparently unbothered by the dirt and sweat.

Kate was grinning too as she reached up to ruffle Kurt's hair — and then some of the fuzz as she shook out a bit of dust and dirt. "I think mine needs a shower," she said.

"I'll take this one into the lake," K said in response. "Cold water will be good for him. Not to mention the company."

Noh didn't quite have the same grin that the other two had, though he was quick to follow their lead in greeting his own wife, but he had to laugh at the two other couples. "I'm surprised — a day's work in the July heat, and they have been looking like that all day," he said.

"We have good reason," Kurt defended.

"Yeah, not every day you get to see one of your girls get married," Logan said, still grinning like a cheshire cat as he kissed K again.

"Wait — who got married?" Jubilee demanded, spinning on her heel away from Noh to face the two grinning men with a look that clearly communicated how much trouble they were in for not letting her in on the secret wedding.

"Tasha," Logan replied before he took Elin from K to toss her in the air. "It was first thing when we got to Westchester."

"What?" Kate looked absolutely flabbergasted. "Wait. What?"

"She wanted a favor, and she wanted it done quickly," Kurt said with a tiny frown. "I was concerned she might talk herself out of it should we have tried to plan anything."

"But ... she married my Hawkeye!" Kate looked wide-eyed as she tried to process it.

"Pretty sure he's her Hawkeye," Logan corrected. "Jealous. Shameful."

"Well, he's still my mentor," Kate said a bit grumpily. "Or I mean. He was. Old partner, old mentor — come on."

"Is that all he is? It was a fluke thing, Chicken Hawk," Logan told her. "If it would have been anyone else capable of marryin' 'em, she would've grabbed them. She needed Kurt and a witness."

"And Clint didn't think I'd want to be witness?" She put her hands on her hips as she took a step back, though Kurt's tail was still wrapped tightly around her hips.

"Clint didn't have a say in it," Logan told her. "He didn't know what was happening until she was nearly down the aisle."

"That's dirty," K said with her nose scrunched up. "But I can see how it'd work for her."

"I thought there was an order to these things," Noh agreed. "Wouldn't the groom have been… proposed to at the very least?"

"Not in this case," Kurt said with a laugh.

Kate still looked a bit annoyed at being left out of the wedding, but she couldn't help but smirk. "That… actually sounds totally like them, though," she had to admit. "What'd he say when he finally figured it out?"

"He was told not to say anything until 'I do'," Logan laughed.

"He didn't seem to have much to say anyhow," Kurt admitted, still grinning. "But I've never seen him grin so wide — not since Jess told him that Gerry was his."

"And I missed it?" Kate still sounded a bit put-out, but even as she stopped with the hands-on-hips routine and let Kurt pull his arms around her again, one of the bamfs appeared in front of her with a wide grin and a whispered 'bamf' as he handed over the phone and chattered at her quickly until she was laughing outright.

"Of course," she said, reaching out to ruffle the little guy's hair. "I should've known you'd be there to document something this important." She waved the phone in her hand and tapped Kurt on the chest with it. "I'm going to sit down and watch this, and then you're going to take a shower, and if I'm not annoyed with you anymore after I watch the wedding I should have gone to, I might even join you," she told him low, and he just broke into an impish grin.

"Then you guys can figure out who gets to play with Elin," Logan said as he set her down and pulled K toward the deck. "I'm told I need a swim."

"Oh, that's definitely us," Noh said, scooping up the little girl quickly. "Come on, little sister. Let's go see the stars, and I'll tell you stories about each one."